Día de Los Muertos
by Fist-it-Out
Summary: Today, November 2, is the second day in the festivities of Día de Los Muertos, or The Day of the Dead. In honor of this, here is a one shot of the Argo II crew and Nico celebrating. Enjoy!


**A/N: In honor of The Day of the Dead, or _Día de los Muertos_ , I've created this little one shot where Leo is giving the seven (plus Nico) a education on it. I know it doesn't say Leo is Mexican, but it doesn't say he's _not_ Mexican. Plus, I wanted to put my knowledge to good use. I learned this in school. **

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"Hey guys." Leo said, addressing his _Argo II_ crew. "Do ya' know what today is?"

"November second." Annabeth stated, not looking up from her book.

"You are correct," Leo said, smiling. "Do you know what happens on the second?"

"We do the same thing we do all the time?" Piper asked.

"Yeah, pretty sure that's what happens." Jason agreed.

"Are you guys kidding me? Today is _Día de los Muertos!"_ Leo exclaimed.

"Day what?" Percy asked.

"You understood something he said?" Annabeth asked, looking at Percy.

"Pay attention to me!" Leo exclaimed. "Today is the second day of _Día de los Muertos._ Day of the Dead!"

"What's that?" Hazel asked.

"Day of the Dead is when you celebrate all those who have died. It's only my third favorite holiday, after Christmas and my birthday."

"Your birthday isn't a holiday." Annabeth pointed out.

" _Chica_ , my whole life is a holiday." Leo said. "Now come on, let's go celebrate!"

"Nah, I'm good." Jason said. "I've got stuff going on."

"Come on guys. This is a really good day."

"To think about all the people who've died because of us?" Percy asked.

"To celebrate their lives. I'm sure everyone here has someone to celebrate." Leo said. "For me, my mom. What about you? Piper? Frank? Hazel? Annabeth?"

"Sammy." Hazel whispered.

"Too many people. I don't even want tormenta think about it." Annabeth whispered.

"It's a happy day. It's not something to be sad about. You get to wear bright _colores_ and paint _las calaveras_ on your faces. Bring _ofrenda_ for the dead. Have _desfile_ at Camp."

"Leo, you need to speak English." Piper stated.

"Bright colors, paint beautiful skulls on your face, offerings for the dead, and have a parade. Come on, please? For me?" Leo pouted.

The others looked at each other before sighing. They knew that if it were them in his place, he'd celebrate with them. "What do we have to do?" Annabeth asked. Three and a half hours later, the Argo II was decorated with _papel picado—_ or bright, intricate paper cut outs— lots and lots of _calaveras_ , bright _flores_ , and marigolds. The crew was dressing in the brightest, most colorful clothes they could find, their faces painted to resemble _calaveras_.

"What do we do first?" Annabeth asked.

"Remember the dead! Duh! Get pictures and things they liked so we can make an _altar._ Then the _fiesta_ begins!"

"English please." Frank demanded.

"We make alters then party." Leo explained. "Get _velas_ too. Then we can celebrate _las memorias de la muerte._ "

Without even asking for a translation, the seven were off, looking for items of their late friends and family. When they had returned to the open deck, Leo had set up sixteen tables, each covered with a white cloth. Nico had joined the deck and was decorating a table.

When they saw Nico, they were surprised. Nico had dressed for the occasion, wearing a black and white bolero jacket with ornate trim and white ruffle sleeves, black pants, a satiny white shirt with attached red tie, and matching red sash, like the other gentlemen (except Jason's sash was yellow, Percy blue, Frank's purple, and Leo's orange).

Just some info, the girls were wearing identical dresses: ankle-length with ruffles along the off-the-shoulder neckline as well as along the bottom. The dress also features a colorful sugar skull pattern along the skirt. Accent your waist with the fabric tie-around belt with the same pattern as dress in the center. The only difference was the main color: Piper had pink, Hazel had lavender, and Annabeth had a bright yellow.

Everyone's face paint matched their outfits in some way.

"Come on, hurry! We're wasting the day." Leo exlciamed. "We already missed yesterday."

"Wait how long does this last?" Piper asked.

Leo shrugged. "Couple days, usually just the first and second. The first is mainly for children though, the second for adults. Now, pick a table and start decorating. I'm gonna go down to my cabin and get my iPod to play some music."

Leo ran off, disappearing into the halls. Nico got up, walking over to the others. "What brings you here?" Jason asked, putting his hands in his pocket.

"I was celebrating in Mexico City but then, I got an Iris message from Leo saying you guys were celebrating. I wanted to see this."

"Wait, you celebrate this day too?" Annabeth asked.

"Uh hello, I'm the son of Hades. Of course I celebrate Day of the Dead. It's on of my favorite holidays. Sometimes, to a select few, I'll even bring their deceased relatives to visit them, where they cans see them." Nico explained. "Now, to decorate. Leo's super excited."

They all moved to their respective tables. Percy's was in honor Charles Beckendorf, Annabeth's for Luke Castallam, Hazel's for Sammy Valdez, Frank's for Emily Zhang and Grandma Zhang, Jason's for a Hunter of Artemis, Naomi, and Piper's was for Silena Beauregard. Percy did another one for Zoe Nightshade and Ethan Nakamura, will Annabeth did another for Michael Yew. Percy and Annabeth collaborated on a few others, for Castor (son of Dionysus) and Lee Fletcher. Nico's altar was in honor of his sister and mother. Leo made one while he was alone, for his mother.

Leo came back on deck with fourteen well dressed skeletons, each carrying something different. All of the trays were piled high with all kinds of foods and snacks. Leo pulled a white cloth off of a larger table, revealing speakers. "Let's get this party started!" Leo exclaimed, his main playlist blaring through the speakers.

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 **A/N: Short, I know. But hey, I did my best. I didn't get this idea until this morning and have been working with every free minute I get. Anyway, thoughts? Well appreciated. Also, I learned all those Spanish words in Spanish class at school today. And yesterday, but still. So a little history.**

 **On All Hallow's Eve (10/31), at midnight, it is said the gates of heaven are opened and the spirits of those who have died descend to earth to celebrate with their families. November first is for kiddies and the second is for adults.**

 **Thats all I've got. I hope you've learned something new! Maybe Spanish, maybe stories, doesn't matter.**

 **Until next time,**

 **xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


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